The OPU adviser also expressed his personal position, which is more radical than official statements.
OPU adviser Mykhailo Podolyak announced that Ukraine officially offers to transfer Mikheil Saakashvili to Ukraine or any other third country for treatment.
Podoliak noted for Public Broadcasting of Georgia that, unlike Russia, Ukraine does not interfere in the “sovereign affairs of other countries” and does not give any advice, which is why the offer to hand over Saakashvili to our country is official.
“I am very sympathetic to Mikheil Mykolayovych. I respect him because he is a figure of historical scale. Our official position is to hand over Saakashvili to us for treatment. There will definitely be no military-aggressive results from Russia. And if you don’t want to hand him over directly to Ukraine , transfer him to any third European country where you can provide the medical care that, unfortunately, cannot be provided in Georgia. Famous people make public statements about this,” said Podolyak.
Podoliak also expressed his personal position, which is more radical than official statements. He believes that “the government deliberately wants to put Georgia in history as a black spot, as a state that deliberately tortured its president in prison.”
“This is how it looks to me. I give a simple advice, without interference, I tell them directly – representatives of the current government, the state in general, deputies of the ruling party, which for some reason loves Russia so much – do not write yourself into the history of Georgia in black letters. The best option is to transfer the person to any country, if you want I will personally come and pick them up, it’s not a problem at all. I just want to understand their motivation,” Podolyak added.
Mikheil Saakashvili’s death threat – the latest news
Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia and a citizen of Ukraine, was detained in Georgia on October 1, 2021 – after returning to the country for the first time in 8 years on the eve of the elections.
He is accused of several criminal cases, in particular, of illegal border crossing. He was also sentenced in absentia to 6 years in prison in the case of the attack on Georgian ex-deputy Valery Gelashvili.
Saakashvili, who calls the charges against political persecution, responded to the detention by going on hunger strike. The first hunger strike lasted until November 19 last year and seriously undermined the health of the politician. He was transferred from the prison to the hospital.
In November, it became known that Saakashvili has tuberculosis. In addition, the 55-year-old politician is developing dementia. At the end of last month, the politician’s lawyer said that traces of a deadly poison were found in Saakashvili’s body.
In a video released by Georgian jailers, one can see that Saakashvili is now moving around on a walker, physically exhausted.
In December 2022, Saakashvili resumed his hunger strike. The reason was the refusal of the Department of Execution of Sentences of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia to provide him with direct inclusion from the hospital ward.